January 30, <<Address>> Dear <<Restaurant CEO Name>>:

Transcription

1 January 30, 2014 <<Address>> Dear <<Restaurant CEO Name>>: We, the undersigned, write to ask the <<Restaurant Name>> to strengthen its commitment to providing children with healthy meal options, including by removing soda and other sugary beverages from your children s menu. Families eat out twice as often as they did in the 1970s, with children consuming about a quarter of their calories at fast-food and other restaurants. Given the growing role of restaurant foods in children s diets and the high rates of childhood obesity, restaurants should do more to help children eat better. We commend you for taking some initial steps to address the nutritional quality of your children s meals and for joining the National Restaurant Association s Kids LiveWell program. We ask you to continue to build on that commitment by offering only healthy beverages, such as low-fat or fat-free milk, water, or unsweetened flavored seltzer, with all your children s meals. Soda and other sugary drinks promote obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010, sugar-sweetened beverages are the single largest source of calories in children s diets and provide nearly half of their added sugars intake. A 2001 study published in the Lancet found that drinking just one additional sugary drink every day increases a child s chances of becoming obese. With one in three children overweight or obese in the United States, it no longer makes sense to include sugary beverages in restaurant meals for young children. McDonald s recently announced it would no longer list soda on the kids meal section of its menu boards. Subway, Chipotle, Arby s, and Panera also do not offer soda as a beverage option on their children s menus. Offering only healthier beverage options helps children to eat better and supports parents efforts to feed their children more healthfully. We urge you to go beyond the Kids LiveWell program s minimum requirements and remove soda and other sugary drinks from your entire children s menu. We look forward to your response and would welcome the opportunity to work with you and your staff to improve the nutritional quality of your restaurants children s meals and beverages. Sincerely,

2 Organizations A World Fit For Kids Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Advocates for Better Children's Diets American Academy of Sports Dietitians and Nutritionists American Cancer Society American Diabetes Association American Institute for Cancer Research American Medical Student Association American School Health Association Asian and Pacific Islander Obesity Prevention Alliance Center for Digital Democracy Center for Global Policy Solutions Center for Nutrition and Activity Promotion Center for Science in the Public Interest Central California Regional Obesity Prevention Program ChangeLab Solutions Childhood Obesity Prevention Coalition Children Now Community Food and Justice Coalition Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children Association of State Public Health Nutritionists Bangor Health and Community Services Bay Area Nutrition and Physical Activity Collaborative Berkeley Media Studies Group California Center for Public Health Advocacy California Conference of Local Health Department Nutritionists The California Endowment California WIC Association Cancer Prevention and Treatment Fund Center for Communications, Health & the Environment Consumer Federation of America Day One Defeat Diabetes Foundation D'fine Sculpting & Nutrition LLC Directors of Health Promotion and Education Earth Day Network Eat Smart, Move More South Carolina Energy Up! First 5 Yolo Florida Prevention Research Center Food and Water Watch Food Fight 2

3 Food, Nutrition & Policy Consultants, LLC Food Trust GW Cancer Institute Healthy Living Rochester Hispanic Dental Association The Horizon Foundation of Howard County, MD Indian Rural Health Association Institute for America's Health Institute for Integrative Nutrition Institute for a Sustainable Future Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility Iowa Public Health Association KC Healthy Kids Lane Coalition for Healthy Active Youth Latino Coalition for a Healthy California LiveWell Colorado Louisiana Public Health Institute Maine Public Health Association Mercyhurst University Institute for Public Health Midwest Coalition for Responsible Investment MomsRising.org National Action Against Obesity National Association of Chronic Disease Directors National Association of County and City Health Officials National Center for Weight & Wellness National Congress of Black Women National Consumers League National Council of La Raza National Network of Public Health Institutes National Physicians Alliance National WIC Association The Nemours Foundation New York State Public Health Association Northwest Coalition for Responsible Investment Nutrition First Oral Health America Oregon Public Health Institute Parents, Educators & Advocates Connection for Healthy School Food (PEACHSF) Partners for a Healthier Community Partnership for a Healthier New York City Partnership for a Healthy Lincoln Partners for a Healthy Nevada Partnership for Prevention Philadelphia Department of Public Health 3

4 Praxis Project Prevention Institute Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada Project LEAN Public Health Advocacy Institute Public Health Institute Recipe for Success Real Food for Kids Real Food for Kids - Montgomery Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity Shape Up America! Social Justice Learning Institute Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior SuperKids Nutrition Tweens Nutrition and Fitness Coalition Upstream Public Health Young People's Healthy Heart Program Academic Experts (affiliations for identification purposes only) Alberto Ascherio, MD, DrPH Departments of Epidemiology and Nutrition Harvard University Sharon R. Akabas, PhD Institute of Human Nutrition Columbia University Edna Page Anderson, PhD Retired Adjunct Professor University of South Carolina Lawrence J. Appel, MD, MPH C. David Molina, MD, MPH. Chair in Medicine Director, Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology and Clinical Research Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions Ameena Batada, DrPH Department of Health and Wellness University of North Carolina, Asheville Robert Wm. Blum MD, MPH, PhD Chair, Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health Bloomberg Johns Hopkins University Janet Bond Brill, PhD, RDN, FAND Nutritionist and Author Calories, LLC Faith Boninger, PhD Commercialism in Education Research Center University of Colorado, Bolder David Britt Retired President-CEO Sesame Workshop 4

5 Angela J. Campbell, JD, LLM Georgetown Law Georgetown University Deborah Cohen, MD, MPH RAND Corporation Pardee RAND Graduate School Marsha N. Cohen, JD Hon. Raymond L. Sullivan Professor of Law University of California Hastings College of the Law Sonja L. Connor, MS, RDN, LD Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Clinical Nutrition Oregon Health & Science University David Cutler, PhD Department of Economics Harvard University Jennifer L. DeJong, PhD, FNP-BC, CNE Department of Nursing Concordia College Sharon M. Donovan, PhD, RD Melissa M. Noel Endowed Chair in Nutrition and Health Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign John W. Farquhar, MD Stanford Prevention Research Center Stanford University Christopher Gardner, PhD Director of Nutrition Studies Stanford Prevention Research Center Stanford University Jean L. Harris, PhD Department of Exercise Science, Health Studies, Physical Education and Sport Management Ruth S. Ammon School of Education Adelphi University Frank B. Hu, MD, PhD Departments of Epidemiology and Nutrition Harvard Medical School Nancy Huehnergarth Nancy F. Huehnergarth Consulting David Hunter, MBBS, MPH, ScD Departments of Epidemiology and Nutrition Rachel K. Johnson, PhD, MPH, RD, FAHA Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences University of Vermont Scott Kahan, MD, MPH and Health Services George Washington University 5

6 David L. Katz, MD, MPH, FACPM, FACP Director Yale Prevention Research Center Yale University Francine R. Kaufman, MD Distinguished Professor Emerita of Pediatrics Keck University of Southern California Julie Anne Kennel, PhD, RD, LD College of Education and Human Ecology The Ohio State University Thomas E. Kottke, MD, MSPH Medical Director for Population Health, HealthPartners University of Minnesota Medical School James Krieger, MD, MPH Chief, Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention Section Public Health - Seattle and King County Dale Kunkel, PhD Department of Communication University of Arizona Lawrence H. Kushi, ScD Director of Scientific Policy Division of Research Kaiser Permanente Bob Lutz, MD, MPH Spokane Regional Board of Health Spokane, Washington Jay Maddock, PhD Director Office of Public Health Studies University of Hawaii at Manoa JoAnne E. Manson, MD, DrPH Harvard Medical School Department of Epidemiology Harvard University Susan T. Mayne, PhD Chair Department of Chronic Disease Epidemiology Yale Associate Director Yale Cancer Center Mary Miller Coordinated School Health Springdale School District Mike Miller, MD, FACC, FAHA Departments of Medicine, Epidemiology and Public Health University of Maryland Director, Center for Preventive Cardiology University of Maryland Medical Center Alex Molnar, PhD Director, Commercialism in Education Research Center University of Colorado, Boulder Kathryn Montgomery, PhD School of Communication American University 6

7 William A. Neal, MD West Virginia University Marion Nestle, PhD, MPH Department of Nutrition, Food Studies and Public Health New York University Keryn Pasch, PhD, MPH Assistant Professor Austin, Texas Barry M. Popkin, PhD Department of Nutrition University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill John D. Potter, MD, PhD Division of Public Health Services Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Debra B. Reed, PhD, RDN, LD Helen DeVitt Jones Chair Department of Nutrition, Hospitality and Retailing College of Human Sciences Texas Tech University Bill Reger-Nash, EdD West Virginia University Ingrid Richards Adams, PhD, RD, LD Department of Dietetics and Human Nutrition University of Kentucky Eric Rimm, ScD Associate Professor of Medicine Harvard Medical School Changing Division of Network Medicine Brigham and Women's Hospital Shreela Sharma, PhD, RD, LD Division of Epidemiology University of Texas, Houston Leslie Spencer, PhD Department of Health and Exercise Science Rowan University Diane D. Stadler, PhD, RD Division of Health Promotion and Sports Medicine Oregon Health & Science University Meir Stampfer, MD, DrPH Harvard Medical School Departments of Epidemiology and Nutrition Channing Division of Network Medicine Brigham and Women's Hospital Lyn M. Steffen, PhD, MPH, RD Division of Epidemiology and Community Health University of Minnesota Mary Story, PhD, RD Associate Director, Education and Training Duke Global Health Institute Department of Community and Family Medicine Duke University 7

8 Vic Strasburger, MD Department of Pediatrics University of New Mexico Alexander C. Wagenaar, PhD Department of Health Outcomes and Policy University of Florida College of Medicine University of Florida Institute for Child Health Policy Associate Director Public Health Law Research Program Temple University Grace Wyshak, PhD Departments of Global Health and Population and Biostatistics Harvard University Lisa R. Young, PhD, RD Adjunct Professor New York University Ellen Wartella, PhD Department of Communication Studies School of Communication Northwestern University Marlene Wilken, RN, MN, PhD Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health Creighton University Walter C. Willett, MD, DrPH Chair Department of Nutrition Jerome Williams, PhD Prudential Chair in Business Interim Director and Research Director The Center for Urban Entrepreneurship & Economic Development Rutgers Business School - Newark and New Brunswick 8